Merkel-Putin mystery discussion

An animated encounter between German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Russian President Vladimir Putin has been making the rounds on social media, with questions abuzz about what the two leaders were discussing.

Walking into the conference room, Dr Merkel used her hand to trace what appeared to be a projectile. Mr Putin then appeared to offer his version of the same gesture with his finger, prompting Dr Merkel to roll her eyes.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

Ivanka represents US - for just a moment

For a moment at the summit yesterday, the United States was represented by another Trump, when the President's daughter, Ivanka, took a seat at the table of world leaders between Chinese President Xi Jinping and British Prime Minister Theresa May.

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A White House official said she "briefly joined the main table when the President had to step out" for one-on-one meetings with other world leaders.

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

$1.38b loan support for women entrepreneurs

The World Bank yesterday launched a public-private loan programme aimed at providing over US$1 billion (S$1.38 billion) to support women entrepreneurs in developing countries.

The bank said initial funding of US$325 million was coming from donors including Germany, the United States, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, and would be matched by hundreds of millions of dollars in private capital.

REUTERS

US First Lady misses cruise tour

United States First Lady Melania Trump was due to go on a cruise tour with other spouses of G-20 leaders, but was instead trapped at her residence as anti-globalisation demonstrators went on the rampage, smashing shop windows and burning cars.

After she finally emerged, she found her husband was locked in talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Said Secretary of State Rex Tillerson, who was in the meeting: "They even sent in the First Lady... to see if she could get us out of there, but that didn't work... We did another hour. Clearly she failed."

AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Sunday Times on July 09, 2017, with the headline 'In Brief'. Print Edition | Subscribe

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